Watercolour and Urban Sketching Courses
Mike Mills teaches you to see a scene clearly and paint it with confidence — using expressive watercolour, brush pen, and pen & ink. Every course follows the same four-stage method. Learn it once. Apply it to anything you paint.
The Four-Stage Painting Process
Every course is structured around Mike’s four-stage painting method. It gives you a clear path from blank page to finished painting — and it works on any subject.
01 —
Outline & Big Shapes
Start with the big shapes and block in your composition before you touch paint. Structure first — everything else follows.
02 —
Watercolour Stage
Build colour, mood, and atmosphere using expressive watercolour. The palette is limited. The effect is not.
03 —
Brush Pen Tone and Shade
Add depth and shadow with Tombow brush pens, working from light to dark until the scene has real weight and dimension.
04 —
Detail Stage
Finish with permanent fine liners — architectural detail, hatching, and the small marks that make a scene feel lived-in.
Start Here — Free
Painting the Little Nest Gift Shop
A complete free course — from first pencil mark to finished painting. Follow Mike’s four-stage method on a detailed shopfront scene.
Free • Beginner • Four stages • ~1 hour
Painting Beddgelert Bridge
A beautifully complex scene — stone arches, river reflections, layered buildings. This course teaches you to break it down and build it back up, stage by stage.
Beginner • Step-by-step • Full course
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Polperro Harbour: The Saxon Bridge
A harbour painting with real atmosphere — whitewashed walls, old stone, and the open sea at the end of the bridge. Seven lessons through the four-stage process.
Beginner • Step-by-step • £49.00
Lower Slaughter Village
Honey-coloured limestone, the gentle River Eye, and stone footbridges through a timeless Cotswold village. Seven lessons through the four-stage process.
Beginner • Step-by-step • £49.99
Mousehole Harbour
One of Cornwall’s most ancient fishing harbours — the South Quay dates to 1390. A step-by-step watercolour course through seven lessons and the four-stage process.
Beginner • Step-by-step • £49.99
Want to try before you commit? Explore free tutorials.